Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Yamazaki stocks running low

Stocks of Yamazaki 10-year-old are running very low

Supplies of Suntory whisky may not be able to meet significantly increased global demand, according to the company's Global Brand Ambassador Hiroyoshi "Mike" Miyamoto.
According to the drink news website The Drinks Business, Miyamoto told a tasting in London last week: “Demand has increased as Suntory has won more and more awards. Whisky takes time and producing it involves a long-term planning strategy. Just because there has been an increase in demand, it doesn’t mean we are able to catch up with that straight away."
A combination of significantly increased domestic demand due to the highball boom, an export drive in the US which appears to be gaining some traction, and the enthusiasm generated by the awards Miyamoto mentions is straining supplies.

“We are executing an allocation plan to ensure we can catch up. We are working on allocation by region to ensure that every market is catered for as best as possible in the coming months,” he said.

Miyamoto said stocks of Yamazaki 10-year-old were particularly low. That makes sense because 10 years ago, when that whisky was being laid down, was an extremely bleak time for Japanese whisky. About three years of unexpectedly high demand for Kakubin blended whisky for highballs (which would be drawing on sub-10 year old Yamazaki stocks) appears to have eaten into the relatively scanty stocks of Yamazaki.
Miyamoto said he was confident that the distillery will be able to meet global demand by 2012.

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